AFRICA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

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21 political parties were registered; during the year, 16 political parties were registered.
Some parties were integrated into other parties, such as the Grand Alliance
Party. In 2001 the RUF alleged that the Government prevented the establishment
of an RUF political party as called for in the Lome Accord. However, during the year
the RUF registered as a political party, changed their name to the Revolutionary
United Front Party (RUFP), and fielded presidential and parliamentary candidates.
c. Freedom of Religion.—The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the
Government generally respected this right in practice.
For a more detailed discussion see the 2002 International Religious Freedom Report.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation.—The
Constitution provides for these rights, and the Government generally
respected them in practice; however, there were frequent reports that SLP officers
manned roadblocks and stopped motorists to extort money from travelers (see
Section 1.c.). Unlike in the previous year, there were no reports of RUF rebels or
CDF members manning roadblocks.
Approximately 247,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) remained at year’s
end. Some IDPs were housed in camps, but many lived in Freetown. Residents who
feared that their homes would not be safe strongly resisted government attempts
to close IDP camps. The large influx of IDPs and the lack of resources caused tension
between local residents and IDPs; however, there were no reported incidents
of violence. There were numerous reports that refugees and IDPs returned to find
their homes occupied.
Approximately 135,000 refugees repatriated during the year. An estimated 70,000
persons remained in refugee camps in Guinea and Liberia; smaller numbers remained
in Cote d’Ivoire, the Gambia, Ghana, and other countries and were likely
to integrate locally in those countries.
Unlike in the previous year, there were no cross-border actions by the RUF in
Guinea that contributed to the return of refugees from Guinea. Unlike in the previous
year, there were no reports that the RUF raped, abducted, and killed refugees
returning to the country from camps in Guinea.
The law does not provide for granting of asylum or refugee status in accordance
with the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol.
However, in practice the Government cooperated with the U.N. High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR) and other organizations on repatriation matters and
continued to provide first asylum to an increasing number of Liberians who had fled
the conflict in their home country. UNHCR reported that more than 50,000 Liberian
refugees entered the country by year’s end. Some camps such as Jendema Camp at
times were not able to provide adequate food or shelter for the influx of refugees,
which caused border areas to become unstable. However, at year’s end, conditions
in all camps were described as adequate.
The U.N. conducted an investigation into reports in 2001 of widespread sexual
abuse of refugees in the Mano River Union, including Sierra Leone. The U.N. investigation
found no evidence to support earlier claims of widespread abuse, but did
confirm the report of the rape of a 14-year old returnee in Jui (see Section 1.c.).
Other international aid workers reported that several cases of abuse and exploitation
of refugees by aid workers took place throughout the year.
The Liberian border officially closed at times during the year due to the civil conflict
in Liberia; however, authorities permitted refugees, returnees, and other persons
to move between the two countries regularly. There were some unconfirmed reports
of bribery or coercion at border crossing points, although UNHCR reported
that the Government did not hinder or refoule those seeking asylum. At year’s end,
the border was open for all travel.
There were no reports of the forced return of persons to a country where they
feared persecution.
Section 3. Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their Government
The Constitution provides for the right of citizens to change their government;
however, the May elections were marred by some irregularities.
In 2001 the Government extended the term of Parliament and the President by
6 months in response to the ‘‘state of war’’ in the country. In December 2001, Parliament
voted to amend the Constitution in order to modify the electoral system.
The amendments also extended President Kabbah’s term of office until July. On
March 29, Parliament was dissolved until the May elections.
During the year, the Government facilitated the RUF’s re-registration as a political
party, the RUFP. The Government did not allow Foday Sankoh to run as the
RUFP Presidential candidate, citing a law that required candidates to be registered
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